


Death at Sea

by Deanne Gabriel (youtomyme)



Series: The Servants of Death [2]
Category: Original Work
Genre: Assassins & Hitmen, Fictional Religion & Theology, M/M, Mild descriptions of violence
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-10-28
Updated: 2016-10-28
Packaged: 2018-08-27 13:05:15
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 10,577
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8402797
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/youtomyme/pseuds/Deanne%20Gabriel
Summary: Despite Gilbert's misgivings, he and Amator take a holiday out to sea. As usual, death follows. Sequel to The Servants of Death.





	

Gilbert turned to frown out the window of the train so that he wouldn’t be swayed by Amator’s coming look of dismay. ‘No.’

‘Why _not_?!’ Amator was utterly appalled. ‘No, wait - are you - no, no, you could not be afraid of water.’

‘I’m not,’ Gilbert said, unable to resist flashing him an amused look. ‘Being on a boat would put us in a vulnerable position. At least even here, on a train, if we are attacked, we can jump off and find a place to hide on our legs. On a boat, jumping off would be even more dangerous and our flight would be too slow by swimming.’

‘I see.’ Amator sighed and slumped back. ‘But it would only be for a day. A brief tour of the islands. We would be fairly close to land the whole time.’

‘Not close enough, and if I’m not mistaken, Amator, you can’t swim.’

‘You have me there,’ Amator admitted. ‘Well, if we do not go on a boat, you must at least teach me to swim.’

‘In a swimming pool. Safest way.’

‘No.’ Amator glared and Gilbert laughed. 

‘Fine. I’m sure there will be a nice, secluded corner of a beach somewhere we can be alone. We can bring a picnic.’

‘Hm,’ was the only answer Amator would give, crossing his arms and leaning back in his seat. Gilbert smiled affectionately at him. 

A year after they had begun traveling together, there were still many times when Amator was entirely careless of his own safety, unused as he was to exercising constant caution. Perhaps his leniency could be forgiven, as it was true that life had been uneventful in the way of assassination attempts the past year, but Gilbert knew very well that it didn’t mean people weren’t watching or even chasing after them. They could have tried and failed thanks to Gilbert’s failsafes without either of them being any the wiser for it, or they could be biding their time and _waiting_ for them to become mindless of their safety. Knowing the Conlegium as he did, Gilbert would leave nothing to chance. 

Anyway, he didn’t mind that Amator didn’t see the danger like he did. It meant that as far as Amator was concerned, they were leading fairly normal lives, the danger of assassination as distant to him as the dangers of a car crash or a freak accident were to other people. That was enough to make Gilbert determined to remain on his own toes - so that Amator wouldn’t have to.

‘Stop sulking,’ Gilbert said, reaching across the table to poke Amator’s cheek.

‘No.’

‘Oh dear, poor baby,’ he cooed. ‘Look -‘

‘You will say this is childish of me, but I really want to go on a boat,’ Amator said.

‘That is pretty childish of you.’

‘You don’t understand how much I crave it,’ Amator groaned. ‘I have never been to sea before.’

‘I assure you, it is _very_ overrated.’

‘I’d like the chance to find that out for myself.’

‘What if we’re ambushed while we’re out at sea?’

‘I will trust to the gods.’

‘The gods help those who help themselves. You are _not_ helping yourself.’

Amator suddenly smiled, Gilbert’s favourite bright, boyish grin. ‘Are _you_ delivering a sermon to _me_ now? Gilbert, I am most touched. May I presume -‘

‘No.’ Gilbert cut him off, clasping a hand to his mouth. ‘Shut up. I’m using the gods’ words to manipulate you. That’s pretty unholy, isn’t it?’

‘I suppose,’ Amator said, pulling Gilbert’s hand away, but he was still smiling. ‘Gilbert, if we do a tour of the islands, we should stop every couple of hours or so. So we would not be at sea for long stretches of time and we would always be fairly close to land. We’ll be back before nightfall.’

Gilbert pinched the bridge of his nose and heaved a heavy sigh. ‘I just want to keep you safe, you know.’

‘I know. I love you.’

‘Yeah, yeah.’ He took Amator’s hand and squeezed it. ‘Fine. But if I think we’re in the slightest bit of danger, you’re going to do exactly as I say without question.’

‘Of course. I trust your judgement wholly.’

‘If that were really true, you wouldn’t be insisting on this,’ Gilbert snorted. ‘But I have to indulge you from time to time. Being saddled with me is hard, isn’t it?’

‘Every lifestyle comes with its own difficulties,’ Amator said cheerfully. ‘And I am no stranger to death. Far from it.’

‘Helping death meet other people is _nothing_ like meeting death yourself.’

‘Don’t say that to me, Gilbert - as if you think I’m some naïve little child playing a hero.’ Amator wasn’t angry, but he was solemn, looking straight at Gilbert. ‘You still don’t understand how close I am to Nara-Kami. I know you find it hard to understand the way I see things … but you must trust me.’

‘It’s not that I think you don’t understand what it means to you, to meet death head-on,’ Gilbert said evenly. ‘I think you don’t understand what it means to _me_ , for you to meet death head-on.’

‘Oh, I see.’ Amator laced their fingers together. ‘That is why I wish you believed in the gods more. Think like Father Daley does of his deceased wife. He misses her, but he is happy to think the gods are caring for her now.’

‘The gods reward you for putting up with me,’ Gilbert said. It was an offer of conciliation, and Amator peacefully accepted it.

-

Seeing how overtaken by excitement Amator was on the day of their little voyage was almost enough to convince Gilbert that their little trip was a good idea. It wasn’t, of course. But Amator doing his best to remain the image of a serene and dignified priest (for they were, as usual, staying in a local temple of Nara-Kami, where Amator would give sermons and meet the people for a few days) despite being unable to stop grinning from himself, was worth a lot of good things in life.

‘If you don’t stop bouncing around, I’m going to take a picture and send it to High Priest Bellamy,’ Gilbert said as they walked to the harbour in the early hours of the morning.

Amator froze in his tracks. ‘You _don’t_ dare,’ he said coldly.

‘Daren’t I?’ Gilbert slipped an arm around his waist, pushing him on. 

Despite the hour, the harbour was already bustling with fishermen and other people looking for an early-morning sail. Amator had made the preparations himself, and he led Gilbert straight to the pier where a modest cabin boat was moored. A lean, dark-skinned man in a white uniform was hard at work on the deck.

‘Good morning, Captain Meredith,’ Amator said. ‘Permission to come aboard?’

The man turned around with a shining grin. ‘Good morning, Father. Please do.’

Gilbert offered his hand to Amatoar and helped him step down onto the boat before hopping down himself. 

‘Captain, please meet my partner, Gilbert Peterson,’ Amator said. The two shook hands. ‘Gilbert, the captain is a regular worshipper at the temple of Nara-Kami in this town. The head priest here recommended him as our guide for today.’

‘It is a great honour to have you on board, Father,’ Meredith said, bowing his head reverently. ‘I will take every precaution to ensure your safety, and I hope you will have a pleasant time on my humble vessel.’

‘We are in your very capable hands, Captain,’ Amator said warmly, clapping him on the shoulder.

It was something Gilbert never tired of witnessing: the devout and gods-fearing treating Amator like a celebrity. Even though Gilbert didn’t exactly believe in the gods himself, he understood very well that it was Amator’s faith that made him the gentle, sincere person Gilbert was so taken by. That it was so apparent to people apart from himself made him fiercely proud of Amator.

Meredith showed them around the cabin below deck while the sounds of a busy dock rose around them.

‘Please make yourself at home,’ he said. ‘I always have breakfast before I come down to the harbour and I didn’t think you would like a cold breakfast, so feel free to make your own whenever you feel like it. There are eggs and sausages and things in the fridge. You may rest here too, if you are tired. We will be departing shortly, but there won’t be much to see for a couple of hours so do sleep away your early morning if you feel you must.’

‘Thank you Captain, but we are naturally no strangers to early mornings,’ Amator laughed. ‘Though we shall take you up on your offer of breakfast. Please prepare the boat and don’t worry about us.’

‘Of course, Father.’ Beaming at them both, Meredith left for his station.

‘You’re like a different person when you’re being the shepherd to your flock of worshippers,’ Gilbert said, putting his arm around Amator again.

‘A different person from whom?’

‘From the little kid who whines at me when he doesn’t get his way.’

‘Oh, him,’ Amator said with a smile. ‘Which one do you think is the person I really am?’

‘Keep both. I like them just the same.’

‘Good.’ Amator kissed him on the cheek. ‘Shall we make breakfast?’

‘Let’s.’

After breakfast, Amator went to chat to Meredith, and Gilbert followed because he didn’t have anything else to do. He had been to sea several times before in his youth and it had never captivated him, so he sat by Amator and listened to their conversation.

‘This is usually just a cruise boat, so my work is not very taxing, to tell you the truth, Father,’ Meredith said. ‘Sometimes I feel like I’m not doing enough of my part and the gods won’t accept me when I die.’

This again. Gilbert propped his elbow up on the window ledge and watched the sea waves. He would wager that about one in every three people who met Amator on their travels had the exact same concern. These days he felt as if he was just as capable as Amator of giving an answer. But Amator was always sincere. Somehow, he saw something different and new in every single person, even when they came with what was just the same tired old predicament to Gilbert.

‘If I’m honest with you, Captain, I often feel the same way,’ Amator said. And Gilbert knew that it was true, absurd as it sounded. The very one chosen by Nara-Kami himself had doubts about the strength of his own faith.

‘ _You_ , Father?’ Meredith said, shocked. ‘It is not possible that the gods would not accept you.’

‘I very much hope you are right,’ Amator said cheerfully, ‘and that Nara-Kami himself will come for us when we are in our last moments.’

Gilbert glared out the window. He hated it when Amator talked about death in that wise but casual way. It made him feel so distant from him, as if death was already close at hand, waiting for his lover.

‘I can almost feel confident about that when you are on board, Father.’

‘Uncertainty can keep us on our toes, but we should be careful not to have too much lest we fall into despair,’ Amator nodded.

‘Do you have any fishing tackle, Captain?’ Gilbert said abruptly.

‘Oh? Yes, I keep a closet stocked below deck, to let tourists try their hand sometimes. We won’t be dropping anchor for a couple of hours, but feel free to put it to use when we do and inspect it in the mean time.’

‘Since you’ve been so eager to go to sea,’ Gilbert said, turning to Amator, ‘you might as well get the full experience and try fishing. Come on.’

‘You know how to fish?’ Amator said brightly.

‘Of course. I know how to off many kinds of creatures, you know.’

Amator glared. ‘Right. Please excuse us, Captain.’

‘Good luck,’ Meredith said, waving.

They made their way to the cabin, and as soon as they were out of earshot, Amator said coldly, ‘You know how to “off” many kinds of creatures, Gilbert?’

‘Yep. I know how to fish and I’ve been taught to slaughter and prepare sheep, chicken, cows -‘

‘And humans.’

‘Well, I don’t “prepare” those.’

‘Please don’t joke about such things, Gilbert.’

‘Okay. Promise you won’t talk lightly about death yourself?’

‘I never joke about death.’

‘But you always talk about your death like it doesn’t mean anything.’ Gilbert struggled to explain himself when Amator put his head to one side, watching him thoughtfully. ‘Saying you hope that Nara-Kami will come for you personally, or that he’ll let you rest peacefully when he arrives. It’s not … fair,’ Gilbert said lamely, perfectly aware of how childish it sounded.

‘What isn’t?’ Amator said in his priest-voice, the patient and concerned voice he used for talking to worshippers who confided in him, the one Gilbert hated to have directed at himself.

‘You belong to Nara-Kami. That is one of the truths that drew me to you, but I wish, now that I have you … that a part of you belongs to me too.’

There was a very painful silence. Amator’s expression was all astonishment.

‘How - how can you say that?’ he said.

‘I know, it’s selfish and unspiritual to think such a thing.’ Gilbert shrugged, turning away and leading them down the stairs to the cabin. ‘Never mind. I _am_ happy enough with you as you are. I just don’t like it when you talk like you’re going to die tomorrow.’

‘Either of us could die right now. That is simply a fact.’

‘I know. Assassin, remember?’

‘Yes. I also remember that we met when _you_ were tasked to send me to Nara-Kami before my time.’

‘I know,’ Gilbert said again, shortly.

‘But perhaps that is why you understand more than anyone how close death is to me, and to all of us.’

Amator seized him by the arm and spun him around to face him. Gilbert was surprised to see that he was grinning broadly.

‘I suppose I should be used to you looking out for me by now,’ Amator said, ‘but your words can still touch me deeply.’

‘You’re not offended?’ Gilbert said, rather more coolly than he meant to.

‘Not at all. I do understand what you mean.’ Amator pulled Gilbert close, and Gilbert acquiesced by putting his arms around him. ‘I cannot promise you I will stop talking about Nara-Kami the way I do. Thinking about the closeness of death is one way to remain alive to presences of the gods.’

‘Just my luck.’

‘But I appreciate you words,’ Amator continued, ignoring him. ‘You’re right. I can’t belong to you like people belong to each other - you’re not my first priority and it’s unfair I should be yours.’

‘Well, you are,’ Gilbert said with a frown. ‘Get over it.’

‘ _You_ get over it. I fit you into every single space in my life I can find.’

There was no way Gilbert could _not_ laugh at that. It was even funnier when Amator looked confused, clearly not understanding the innuendo he had made.

‘Okay, handsome, I’ve got it,’ Gilbert said, and pecked him on the lips. ‘Shall we have the same argument again this time next week?’

‘No. I don’t have the time. Please just accept my words.’

‘I’ll try.’

Amator took Gilbert’s face in his hands and kissed him properly, as he had meant to all along.

‘I’m very happy to have you by my side,’ he said when they broke apart. ‘Now _please_ teach to me to fish.’

Gilbert smirked. ‘Fine. I hope you’re good, I’m an impatient teacher.’

‘I’m sure I can find something to keep you calm while I’m struggling,’ Amator said. Gilbert was most pleasantly surprised to see that the innuendo _was_ intentional this time.

‘Oh, shut up, you. We’re not alone on this boat, you know.’

‘Aha, so you’ve noticed! You were sulking so much, I thought you hadn’t noticed.’

‘ _I_ was sulking?’

In actuality, though Gilbert definitely knew how to fish, he was no expert, and had not done it in several years to boot. Going through the fishing closet and trying to refresh Gilbert’s memory occupied them for a good hour, and by the time they had determined what to bring up with them, the sun had risen fully and was slowly warming the deck.

‘Have you set up some sort of schedule with the captain or something?’ Gilbert asked, dropping down onto a deck chair. ‘Or would you not mind stopping somewhere for a few hours to just sit quietly on deck and fish? I understand perfectly if you find it boring.’

This was a tease. He knew very well that Amator was accustomed to standing or sitting through sermons and ceremonies for hours on end.

‘My days are never dull with you by my side,’ Amator said smoothly. ‘I asked Captain Meredith to give us a tour of the islands, but our timetable is highly flexible.’

‘Good. I’m going to ask him to let us know which islands would be better to fish at and which would be better to tour so we can make the most of today, and tomorrow you can go back to doing absolutely nothing dangerous at all.’

‘It seems like only yesterday you were begging me to, at the very least, cross the road, so you could save my life and take it out yourself,’ Amator sighed with mock nostalgia.

‘And I’m pretty sure it was only an hour ago that you said you never joke about death,’ Gilbert answered, but he was grinning. ‘Let’s ask him together. On second thought, I don’t want to take my eyes off you.’

‘Very well then,’ Amator said serenely, trailing after him.

Meredith was quietly chanting scripture to himself as he steered the boat, so it was as well that Gilbert had dragged Amator along. Watching people performing holy acts, especially casually in their everyday routine, made Gilbert feel uncomfortable in their presence, as if he was afraid they would suddenly turn on him and ask why he was not joining in, being the partner of a priest and all. Amator understood it, but he never remarked on it. He always simply allowed Gilbert to leave the room, or drop behind him as he did now, for which Gilbert was grateful.

‘You have a very good voice, Captain,’ Amator said in way of greeting.

‘Thank you, Father.’ Meredith glanced over his shoulder to smile at them. ‘But I wish I could ask you to teach me to read it the way you do. I attended your sermon two days ago, and the way you read, though from memory, is very beautiful.’

‘I was taught it ever since I was a child, for many hours at a time. You will improve with every practice.’ 

Gilbert gave a polite cough, and Amator’s smile became a little more mirthful with acknowledgement.

‘Gilbert is bent on teaching me to fish, so we were hoping you could tell us a little about which islands we should visit and which would be best to dock at and find a place to fish.’

‘Oh, I see.’ Meredith rubbed his chin contemplatively, eyes on the horizon. ‘If you’d like to fish, it would be best if we dropped anchor farther from shore.’

‘We’re not doing that,’ Gilbert said curtly.

‘He is very concerned for our safety,’ Amator said with an apologetic smile.

‘Of course, I understand. In which case, I recommend you tour the Taikere, Konuka, and Karibasa islands, and in between, I shall take you to the Butymn Chain and Glois, which have some popular spots for fishing. They should be fairly peaceful this time of year.’

‘That sounds excellent. Thank you, Captain.’

‘My pleasure, Father. If I may, I advise you and Mr Peterson to go out on deck right now. In a few moments, we will be passing a beautiful skerry I’m sure you would enjoy seeing.’

‘Alright, let’s go then,’ Gilbert said, turning on his heel. ‘Taikere first, correct? I want to check we have all our things too, Amator. Fortunately, it’s a fairly big island.’

Amator had to hurriedly say goodbye to Meredith over his shoulder as he jogged after Gilbert.

‘Are you alright?’ Amator said. ‘No, never mind. Taikere has a walk that is famous for being a “wild garden” that is only tended to by humans to make sure it thrives and isn’t controlled or cut down in places to be neat. We can go on a date there.’

‘This whole trip is a date.’

‘Oh, naturally.’

‘But I agree with your suggestion. Well, what else do you know of these foreign waters, my love?’

Enough for them to have something to do at every island even without Meredith’s guidance, apparently. The captain stayed behind whenever they docked, to chat with the people he knew in each harbour and tend to his ship. Gilbert did not fail to notice that after they had asked his advice on touring the islands, Amator had avoided speaking to the captain anymore than necessary to appear polite. It made Gilbert feel ashamed of himself, that his childish discomfort at facing people with a different worldview from his own should be so apparent, but he knew he was glad, too.

He did his best to tuck it all away in the back of his mind when he went out with Amator. Most of the islands met his approval for their size, all being decent enough to live in and therefore good enough to find places to hide and hold fort, should the need arise.

‘I wish I could tell you to just relax and enjoy your time with me,’ Amator said, half-dragging him through a bazaar by the hand, as he contemplated the shelter that could be provided by select alleyways. ‘But I know it would be futile.’

‘And useless besides. I’m not losing you to my own carelessness.’

‘You mean losing my life. How about possibly losing my interest if you keep acting so distant when we’re supposed to be on a date?’

This startled Gilbert into the present. ‘Sorry,’ he muttered, flushing with shame. ‘I didn’t mean - I shouldn’t - er, I mean …’

Amator gave him a warm, comforting smile. ‘Stay with me, Gilbert.’

‘Yes.’ Gilbert smiled back rather guiltily. He linked arms with Amator and listened to him attentively as he showed him souvenirs and crafts native to the island, and chatted excitedly of sampling the local food.

When they got to the Butmyn Chain, however, Gilbert felt the difficulty of attending to Amator all over again. The Butmyn Chain was not a chain of real islands, but of small atolls, and they offered little real shelter.

‘I realise it is not ideal,’ Amator said before Gilbert could remark, ‘but I believe it will be fine if we fish from on board, and Meredith will simply leave if we spot any danger.’

‘You’re really set on this,’ Gilbert said with a resigned sigh. ‘Fine. The very first sign of danger.’

‘If anything happens to me, I will claim full responsibility.’

‘Don’t. That won’t make me feel any better.’

Meredith was very reassuring, and told them that he would sit in the cabin on the alert. ‘If I see anyone else on the horizon and they do not respond to my first call, I shall depart immediately,’ he told them, and Gilbert found it within himself to smile gratefully at him.

All the same, it was difficult to stay still. When Amator was settled down with a bucket of bait, holding a fishing pole in one hand and most counter-productively leaning over the side of the boat and swirling the water with his other hand, Gilbert wandered off to pace the deck and watch the surface of the sea.

They were in sight of the first and main of the chain, and Gilbert could see people, distant and indistinct, but clearly simply moving about their everyday business, paying little attention to the boat anchored several yards away. He moved to the prow of the boat facing away from the island and propped his elbows on the railing with a sigh. Sometimes he did feel like a fool for being so paranoid. But the moment he let his guard down, the thought of Amator getting hurt made his stomach churn and he would be on the alert again.

The sea was becoming more turbulent than expected. Meredith had told them that the weather was expected to be calm, but if the sea was rougher than usual, then Amator would not have much luck fishing. That was fine with Gilbert. They could return to the mainland earlier if that ended up being the case.

Yes, he thought, watching the waves, they really were higher than he would thought they would be, this close to the shore. He glanced behind him in case Meredith gave some sign of wanting to dock, or having to ask Amator to pull up his pole. No one exited the cabin, however, and he looked back at the horizon in case he had been mistaken.

There was another boat on the horizon, far enough that it did not immediately occur to Gilbert to ask Meredith to start the boat, but close enough that he wondered how he had not seen it before. It was only a small canoe, and so close underneath a tall wave, it would very soon be pulled under. However, its lone occupant did not appear in the least bit anxious about it. Instead, it was looking straight at their boat. Shock electrified Gilbert’s brain as he realised what he was looking at. The figure wore a long, hooded robe, but Gilbert recognised it all the same. Even from this distance, he could clearly see the beak of a crow protruding from underneath the hood, the cat paws curled around the unmistakeable length of a scythe.

_‘I very much hope you are right,’ Amator said, ‘and that Nara-Kami himself will come for us when we are in our last moments.’_

He did not even cry out. There was no time for that. Gilbert simply spun around and sprinted to the side of the boat where he had left Amator. The boat was not that long, but every single step was slow and heavy, and the deck seemed to stretch away forever. But at last, he was within sight of Amator, who, to his relief, was not vacant from his spot, or lying unconscious, but had simply abandoned his fishing pole in favour of leaning over the side to play with the water. Gilbert could hear his laughter, but he didn’t stop. He leapt to Amator’s side, and before Amator could even straighten up and ask him what was wrong, gathered him into a rib-crushing hug.

Amator let out a startled squeak, and Gilbert could not help but crack a smile.

‘You’re okay,’ he mumbled into Amator’s shoulder.

‘Please let me breathe,’ Amator gasped. Gilbert loosened his hold without letting go, face still buried in his neck.

‘Let’s go back. Please, Amator.’

‘Okay,’ Amator said, and Gilbert felt a fierce surge of affection at the fact that Amator trusted him enough not to ask why. ‘Shall we go and ask Meredith?’

‘Yes. Come on.’

Gilbert had heard enough of Amator’s sermons that Amator’s living, breathing presence could only soothe him so much. If the gods had already planned to take him away, then they would whether or not Gilbert was there to watch over him. But for the shred of hope in him that it might still only be a probability instead of a certainty, that Nara-Kami was present for any other reason, or even that Gilbert had hallucinated it, he would stay by Amator’s side.

They made their way to the cabin hand-in-hand, Gilbert only just holding himself back from squeezing Amator’s hand in a death grip. Meredith glanced over his shoulder at them as they approached, a frown on his face, and Gilbert’s heart sunk even lower.

‘There is another boat on the horizon - smaller than us, but moving fast in our direction and the crew have not answered my calls,’ Meredith said, hands moving swiftly over the controls and the boat mercifully began to move. ‘I am sailing away right now and we should reach the mainland in 40 minutes. If the other boat is really chasing us though, I do not know if we have enough of a head start to outrun them, but unless -‘

A gunshot cracked through the air. Nothing hit the boat, they were still too far away for that, but Gilbert recognised the style: it was an announcement of the intent to battle, and it was from his old Conlegium. The boat Meredith had seen was _not_ the boat of Nara-Kami, but the enemies Gilbert had feared all along.

‘The atoll is _not_ safe,’ Gilbert said, his voice rising in panic. ‘Please take us to the mainland as fast as possible, Captain. Amator, get below deck!’

‘But Captain -‘

Gilbert did not let Amator speak. He grabbed him by the arm and fair dragged him below the deck as the boat sped away as fast as it could go.

‘Stay here,’ Gilbert said, pushing Amator down onto a cushioned bench. ‘Stay here and _don’t_ move, I’ll come down immediately if anyone boards the boat and I can’t take them out fast enough.’

‘You’re not going up there again?!’ Amator demanded.

‘Those people are mainly looking for me. Anyway, I need to keep watch on Meredith so he can actually get us to safety.’ 

The fear was already starting to evaporate, to be replaced by the serene calm he had been trained to maintain at all times. Being with Amator for so long had made him forget a lot, made him think that he had put the assassin’s life behind him, but 12 years of training could not disappear within a mere 12 months. He always kept a gun with him for emergencies like these anyway, and he also rummaged briefly in the fishing cabinet for a knife. It was not ideal at this moment, but he was a talented assassin. He could do with one gun and a knife more than most people could do with an arsenal.

‘Please be careful,’ Amator said. The fear in his voice made the bottom of Gilbert’s stomach drop out, and the terror threatened to return until he swallowed it back.

‘Don’t worry too much.’ Gilbert leaned in and stole a brief kiss. It was a wrench to pull away. ‘Just pray everything will be okay.’

‘Every moment,’ Amator promised. 

Giving Amator’s hand one last affectionate squeeze, Gilbert departed up the steps to the deck.

‘Will he be safe?’ Meredith asked when he reappeared in the cabin.

‘He was chosen by the gods, and he has me,’ Gilbert said calmly, stepping up to the side of the cabin to look outside. The other boat was still too far away to open fire, but too close for comfort. ‘He won’t die easily.’

‘Better it be us than him.’

‘Yes. We’re in agreement there.’ Gilbert tried to look cheerful. ‘But better me than you, since you need to navigate. I’ll be watching your back. If anything happens to me, make sure Amator gets back to the temple safe. They should be happy once they get me, anyway.’

‘So these people … are after you?’

‘Yeah. To put it in a nutshell, I traded my life for Amator’s once, but Amator wouldn’t leave me alone to get killed.’ 

This was oversimplifying it, but putting it like that made Gilbert smile. He knew that, even if anything happened now, Amator would still insist on his company. Amator had once said it was so that Gilbert could stop him from running away from his responsibilities, but Gilbert rather thought that that danger had passed. They were just together now because they did not want to be any other way.

‘They are very fast,' Meredith muttered, watching the tailing boat through the corner of his eye.

'If they come any closer, I'll see what I can do to make them clear off.' Gilbert tensed as he eyed the approaching vessel. He knew what was coming. Any minute now, and … yes. A man had come out on deck, wearing the Conlegium colours of dark blue on silver, the colours of the night. Another figure exited the cabin to join him, and they both surveyed Meredith's boat with a tranquility that might have been deceptive.

'I think they must have reached top speed by now,' Meredith said. 'Do you know how to sail a boat like this?'

'Sort of. I haven't practiced in a long time though.'

‘I hope it will be enough, in case something happens to me.’

‘Let’s hope it doesn’t come to that.’ Gilbert looked at the other boat again, and then out the opposite window. The approaching horizon was calm and undisturbed. ‘Did you see any boat other than the one following us now while we were docked?’

‘No, I didn’t. Did you?’

‘It might have just been my imagination,’ Gilbert shrugged. ‘Anyway, it was just a canoe with one person on it. It couldn’t do us any harm.’

Gilbert’s phone rang, causing Meredith to jump a foot in the air. Gilbert gave him an apologetic look as he picked it up, but he already knew who it would be.

‘Good day, Gilbert,’ a smooth, serene voice said into his ear.

‘Oh wow, is that you, Harper? It’s been a while,’ Gilbert said with mock enthusiasm. ‘I didn’t recognise you from this distant, but it’s nice to hear from you again.’

‘You still can’t see me?’ Harper said. Gilbert looked out the window and was filled with dismay as he realised they could, now.

‘Hello, you’ve got Luke with you,’ he said. ‘This is a regular Adder House reunion, isn’t it?’

‘It is, and yet you’re being so rude, Gilbert. Why don’t you come out so we can see you too?’

‘If I play by the rules,’ Gilbert spoke carefully, ‘then the Chancellor will follow them too, right? I take you out and he’ll leave me alone for the rest of my life?’

‘Sure. When have we ever gone against the rules?’

‘That’s right. Who is the Chancellor these days, anyway? Is it still Duke?’

‘Yep. You’ve only been off the payroll for a year, Gilbert, not that much has changed since.’

‘True.’ It was just as well that it was still Duke. Gilbert knew that he could rely on him to follow the rules. ‘I don’t suppose I could ask you to meet me eye for an eye too? I’ve only got the one gun and knife, you see.’

Harper laughed. ‘I hope that’s just you being a jokester as usual. If you’ve gone soft, then it won’t be any fun.’

‘Fun,’ Gilbert sighed. Yes, many of his classmates had thought of their dirty tasks as ‘fun’. Not that Gilbert had felt any particular remorse before, but it had always just been a job to him. ‘Okay, I’m coming out. You’re quite close already, anyway.’

‘What? No!’ Meredith said as Gilbert hung up. ‘Don’t go out!’

‘Don’t worry,’ Gilbert said, clicking the safety off his gun. ‘I’ve done this before. This is the best way, trust me. Just focus on the boat for now.’

Before Meredith could say anything else, Gilbert slipped out the door.

The other boat was now so close, Gilbert could clearly see Luke and Harper on the deck, and catch snatches of their conversation over the sound of the boat’s motor. If they were following the rules of an assassin-assassin duel, then they wouldn’t attack unless they thought Gilbert had a fair chance of defending himself. Of course, each assassin was allowed to decide for himself what a ‘fair chance’ was.

He fired a shot at Luke, and fled to the port side of the deck where the structure of the cabin would shield him. He congratulated himself upon hearing the man’s cry of pain. It was difficult to aim for his heart when their boats were moving, and his gun was too small for the distance, but even wounding him would help enormously.

Land was a distant prospect on the horizon, but its very sight was a relief. If he could just get himself amongst civilians, Luke and Harper (and their captain, if he was one of them, but Gilbert doubted it. In the Conlegium, two was insurance, but three was cowardly) would cease fire out of respect for the public. Not that they would have been stopped by the presence of a few more innocents on the boat itself. It was a twisted honour system.

From inside the cabin, Meredith caught his eye, and Gilbert forced a smile. He tried to reassure him with a thumbs up and gestured to the horizon, to indicate that he should focus on navigating. To his relief, Meredith nodded, his eyes flickering back to the horizon.

For a full two minutes, Gilbert only stood on the alert, listening hard for moving water from Luke and Harper swimming to the boat. He nearly jumped out of his skin with shock when a crunch rent the air and the boat gave a violent lurch. Gilbert saw Meredith glance out the other side of the cabin with surprise and terror. The other boat had driven straight into them, allowing Luke and Harper to simply jump onto the deck. He wanted to stop and check if their boat could still move, but that would be a waste of time now that the other two assassins were on board. They _were_ still moving, albeit slower than before.

Hopefully he could engage them wholly on the stern. If he remained anywhere near the cabin windows, Meredith could get hurt on top of getting distracted.

‘Hold fire!’ Harper commanded when Gilbert peeked around the cabin. She and Luke held their empty hands in the air (or rather, Luke only had one. His shoulder was badly injured, Gilbert noted with satisfaction) for Gilbert to see.

‘What’s up?’ Gilbert said conversationally without coming out of his hiding place.

‘We have to ask, partly for our records, but also because I just want to know,’ she said, ‘why did you abandon your contract to assassinate the priest of Nara-Kami, Amator?’

‘I got a new job.’

‘As …?’ Luke said, eyeing him doubtfully.

‘As Amator’s protector.’ Gilbert smiled. ‘The employee package is really good. I was tired of the old one.’

‘You fell in love with him, didn’t you?’ Luke said with a great deal more coldness, annoyed at Gilbert’s nonchalance.

‘Come on, you guys have been watching me for a year. You know by now, don’t you?’

‘We’re supposed to refrain from drawing our conclusions until we ask you directly,’ Harper said.

‘Oh, I see. So you two are officially on the hunter team now?’ They nodded. ‘I see. Well, you can have a yes for your “records”, but you won’t have time to write it down. Don’t worry, I’ll call the Conlegium myself when I’m done with you and let them know.’

‘It’s good to know you’re still the same Gilbert,’ Harper said with a smile. 

He didn’t have to look at her hands to know she was going to strike. The bullet missed his face by an inch as he withdrew. 

‘It’s good to know you’re still the same dirty-playing Harper,’ he said, but he didn’t know if she heard. He didn’t bother to shout because he had to be careful with his energy expenditure. His heart was beating only a little faster than usual, and it was imperative he kept it that way as long as possible.

‘You’ve always been so soft, Gilbert,’ Luke yelled, clearly without any such concerns of his own. ‘I should’ve known you’d fall for a target someday. Did you shoot my shoulder because you were afraid of killing me?’

Luke was coming around the other side of the cabin, Gilbert realised. Gilbert knocked on the glass of the cabin to give the OK sign to Meredith so he wouldn’t worry when Luke came into his line of vision. Meredith looked up, and even as Gilbert moved his hand, he realised too late that he had predicted Luke’s movements wrong. Luke was not coming around to face Gilbert. He had chosen instead to just stop the boat and Gilbert’s chances of finding shelter in the public. Gilbert could only watch as he smashed the glass window with the butt of his gun, and shot Meredith in the back of the head. There was a long, slow moment of silence as Meredith fell to the floor.

‘You bastard,’ Gilbert growled before he could stop himself. ‘ _You bastard_. He was an innocent in this!’

‘He was aiding your escape,’ Luke said smoothly. ‘But don’t worry, I won’t touch your beau. We have to respect the reasons you left the Conlegium.’

That cleared the mist from Gilbert’s eyes. Amator could still be caught in the crossfire, but no one would purposefully hurt him. If he was killed now, he could die assured of that.

Gilbert kicked in the glass of the cabin on his side and dropped in. Luke was already on the bow and out of range from the open windows, but Harper was close enough to the window Luke had opened that Gilbert could grab her by the ankle, take out his knife and stab her in the leg. She cursed and fired a shot that embedded itself into the roof of the cabin. Thankfully, the window was not so large that she could easily be dragged in, which meant it was difficult for her to fight against him. Her foot connected with his shoulder and face, but he managed to haul her in far enough to stab her in the stomach. She screamed and curled in on herself, half-hanging into the cabin, half-curled around the window frame.

Just then, Luke reached the window Gilbert had opened and Gilbert had to dive away towards the bow before another bullet hit him. Luke’s injured arm had been bandaged to stop the bleeding, but it still pained him enough to make him shake with exertion, and his aim had become too unpredictable for Gilbert to be sure of reaching the cabin door on the stern side to escape. 

‘Pathetic,’ Luke muttered. Gilbert was now leaning slightly off the controls, careful, despite how foolish it was in this situation, not to disturb Meredith’s body. When Luke re-angled himself from the outside to aim and pulled the trigger, Gilbert darted off to the starboard side. He was just a little too slow, however, and a bullet grazed his face. Pain blossomed on his cheek, already stinging from Harper’s blows, but it was a minor wound. Gilbert pushed himself away from starboard before Luke could aim again and made it to the cabin door. Before he opened the door, he took a shot at Harper, who seemed to be recovering and was uncurling from the window frame. It was pure luck that that was the moment Gilbert’s bullet hit home. It further opened her stomach, and Gilbert knew, as he ran out the door and slammed it shut behind him, that he wouldn’t have to worry about her anymore.

‘Not bad,’ he heard Luke say, and couldn’t stop a smile. No, he had never taken pride in the fact that he had once taken lives for a living, but it was good to know he hadn’t lost his touch.

Now, his top priority was to get the fight away from Amator. Of course, it would take quite a lot for a shot to penetrate the floor of the deck, but Gilbert was not going to take a single chance. He took off for the other boat as he heard Luke’s footsteps, and had to dive behind some equipment to avoid a shot. There was a heavy pile of rope amongst the equipment, which Gilbert picked up and hurled in Luke’s direction. Whether or not it hit, Gilbert didn’t stop to check. He got up, jumped onto the railing and just about fell onto the deck of the other boat. Fortunately, this meant that Luke’s next shot missed him completely.

‘Where are you _going_?’ Luke said incredulously.

Indeed, Gilbert was beginning to doubt his own decision, but at least they were far away from Amator, and he had got here relatively unscathed. He rolled away to the stern side of the cabin and shot wildly behind himself when he was stood up and making for the starboard sign for better cover. His shot hit, but so did Luke’s. Gilbert gasped as it hit his lower back and when he reached the starboard side of the cabin, he collapsed to the floor, clutching his wound as best as he could.

He didn’t even have the energy to jump when someone tapped the window he was leaning against from the other side. He glanced down and saw a familiar face: the porter who had been charged with Adder House back when Gilbert had been a student. The porter waved with his pipe and then went back to leaning in his chair with the pipe in his mouth. Gilbert rolled his eyes. After having spent the last year leading a relatively normal life with Amator, he could now fully appreciate just how bizarre the Conlegium was. The porter could defend himself if their fight came close to him, but he wouldn’t raise a finger to help either side.

He heard footsteps again, heavy and irregular, and said aloud, ‘Are you very badly hurt?’

‘Uh … yep. You’re just really lucky, you know that?’

‘I’ve got the gods on my side.’

‘I know we’ve both got more than a few shots left, so why don’t you come and have a go? See what the gods can do if I empty my gun into you,’ Luke sneered.

‘Honestly, I’d normally take the chance, but I’ve got a boyfriend who’s counting on me to get back, you know?’ Gilbert realised he was using a lot of energy to push the pain to the back of his mind. It had to end soon, before he became too tired and his wounds demanded their price. Luckily, even if he was too badly injured to move, the porter would help whoever survived back to shore. That was one of the reasons he was there.

‘That must be nice.’

Yes, it was, Gilbert thought. Just the memory of Amator telling him to be careful was enough to make a flood of calm wash over him. He wouldn’t give up, for Amator’s sake.

Gilbert pushed himself away from the window, found his footing, and scrambled onto the roof. He was confident about this one, because Luke’s footsteps had become slower and slower, and Luke was expecting him to be on deck anyway. Unfortunately, the latter was not quite the case, but Luke was now far too gone to aim properly at this distance. Luke’s next shot hit Gilbert in the shoulder and he staggered, only just maintaining his balance. Gilbert raised his gun and found that he, too, was struggling to aim past his body’s trembling. The recoil had been too much for Luke, pushing him down on the floor, but Gilbert’s first shot still missed. He wanted to scream with frustration. Luke turned on his side, making to roll away, but he was far too slow. Gilbert fired once, twice, and this time, Luke stayed still.

He breathed a sigh and crumpled on the roof. Falling asleep right then and there sounded like a really good idea. He was so addled that he might have done just that too, had the porter not banged on the roof of the cabin. It startled Gilbert back to his senses, and he slid off the roof as carefully as possible.

‘Hello, Mr Peterson,’ the porter said, meeting him on the side of the cabin. ‘Looks like you won.’

‘To tell you the truth, I’m not so sure of that,’ Gilbert answered, panting heavily. ‘I’m not exactly left in good shape right now.’

‘Nah, I’m sure you’ll make it. I got a good look at your back while you were sitting against my window, and I don’t think you injured any vital organs.’

‘Thank you. You will take us back to shore?’

‘Sure. My boat’s in better condition than yours, I think, so we’ll take her back and I’ll find someone to fetch your boat afterwards.’

‘It’s not mine.’ Gilbert couldn’t hold back a groan as the adrenaline began to fade away and his back started an in-depth presentation on just how much pain it was in. ‘C-captain’s dead. My boyfriend’s below deck, can y-you get him? And … bring the body back now.’

‘Okay, sure thing.’ The porter eyed Gilbert for a moment, before he took off his jacket and handed it to him. ‘For your wound.’

‘Thanks.’

Gilbert held himself together as well as he could. His back was the most pressing thing, but his shoulder was demanding attention he couldn’t give too. _Just let Amator come_ , he thought. _Let him come, and I’ll sleep_.

He didn’t quite manage to keep his word, however. He didn’t realise his eyes had closed until he heard Amator’s voice. The sweet, familiar sound of his name on Amator’s lips made him feel like crying with relief. When Amator came into view and Gilbert saw that _he_ had been crying, he felt completely miserable.

‘Oh my gods, Gilbert.’ Amator kneeled next to him, his red-rimmed eyes filling with tears again. ‘Gilbert, please … are - are you okay?’

‘The sooner we get to shore, the better.’ Gilbert tried to smile, and was forced to stop when his cheek seared with pain. ‘But I’ll be just fine. Don’t cry, love, you’ll make me cry too, and that will really hurt.’

‘Okay.’ Amator smiled for the both of them, wiping away his tears. ‘I trust you. Gilbert, forgive me for bringing you here when you knew this would happen.’

It truly hurt to hear Amator say that. ‘I’m pretty sure I said something before about you not taking responsibility if anything happened. Anyway … now that I’ve taken down the hunters who were after me, the Conlegium will leave us alone. Er, could you ask the porter - I mean the captain - for his phone?’

‘What for?’

‘To phone the Chancellor and tell him he can take me off the hit list.’

‘A-alright then.’

The boat began to move while Amator was gone. Gilbert was glad they would arrive at the mainland soon, but he wished he had found somewhere more comfortable to collapse. The boat rocked and pitched, as boats were wont to do, and he felt like his kidneys were going to come pouring out of his back.

Amator came back with the phone, and sat down next to Gilbert, ignoring his protests that he would be sitting in a puddle of blood and would ruin his clothes. 

‘I do not know how to treat your wounds, but shall I try to stop the bleeding on your shoulder?’ Amator asked, passing Gilbert the phone with one hand and extending a clean cloth with the other.

‘Yes, please. Just press down against it.’

Most predictably, Amator was far too gentle, and Gilbert had to stop to show him how.

‘Let me pray for you,’ Amator said.

‘Give me a moment to take the call.’ But it was hard not to smile now. With Amator so near, so safe and whole in person, Gilbert was all but energised on a fresh rush of adrenaline. He certainly felt more cheerful, and he greeted the person who answered the call with a chirrupy, ‘Good evening.’

‘Good evening,’ said a much colder voice. ‘Can I help you?’

‘Not really. I just wanted to report the deaths of Luke Newman and Harper Roth on their mission to hunt me, Gilbert Peterson. I’ve won, so the Conlegium has to leave me alone now.’

‘Duly noted,’ the voice said, and the line clicked off.

It was tempting to throw the phone into the sea. He felt so completely done with his past life.

‘Is everything okay then?’ Amator said softly.

‘Yep.’ He put the phone down on his lap. It was the nearest place not covered in blood. ‘Amator, I’m sorry that Captain Meredith was dragged into this. I was surprised when Luke shot him too.’

‘I know, I heard. It’s okay. He died in the gods’ way, and I have no doubt that Nara-Kami himself came to take him away.’

A surge of realisation that was nearly painful shot through Gilbert’s brain. Finally, finally, he felt the last of his worries roll away.

‘Oh, Amator,’ he said, leaning his head against his lover’s, ‘I love you so much. Why don’t I tell you that every day?’

‘Because I already know.’ Amator rubbed the back of his shoulder with his other hand. ‘What is it?’

‘When I came running to you at first, it wasn’t because I’d seen the other boat.’ Gilbert paused, feeling the absurdity of what he was about to say. He knew Amator would be the last person on Earth to find it strange, yet it was still difficult for him to muster together the words. ‘It was because … oh - never mind, maybe I just imagined it.’

‘You did not. What was it?’

‘I - I thought I saw … I saw … a boat … a small canoe … with Nara-Kami inside it. I was afraid he had come for you.’

‘Oh.’ Amator’s eyes widened and let out a long breath. ‘Oh, Gilbert, now I know for sure. Nara-Kami was waiting to take Meredith away, and he was protecting us throughout the trip. He appeared to you as a warning, too.’

‘You didn’t see him at all? I wouldn’t think … that he would have appeared to me, instead of you.’

‘I was not looking at the horizon very much,’ Amator admitted. ‘But I am so glad you did see him. You could not have, unless Nara-Kami has already accepted you as one of his own.’

‘I see.’ Gilbert’s eyes were slowly drifting shut. ‘That’s good then. I’m sorry you had to see what I did to Luke and Harper, but I’m happy this is over.’

‘So am I. Rest now, my love,’ Amator said, and Gilbert fell asleep.

-

For a while, Gilbert was totally unsure about whether he was awake or asleep. He was warm and comfortable, although perhaps a softer mattress might have been preferable. It would be nice to go on sleeping, but just how long had he been asleep already? He had the worrying feeling that it had been quite some time.

He opened his eyes and was alive to the sounds of busyness, a voice over an intercom calling for someone, the gentle whirr and beeping of machinery, and a smell that was not pleasant, but not quite bad.

‘Oh my, you’re awake,’ said a voice so deep, it was almost startling. Gilbert turned his head and for an instant, he could only see the blurry silhouette of a man. ‘This is rather bad timing. Amator has just gone out to get us a drink. But I’m pleased to meet you at last, Gilbert.’

Gilbert blinked a couple of times and his vision cleared. The man standing by the window was tall and slender, with iron-grey hair and a face that was grimly lined. His clear blue eyes were very kind, though, and softened the intimidating first impression one got of the man. As Gilbert took in the fine yellow robes, hemmed in gold thread, and the golden symbol of the scythe on the chest, he suddenly felt nervous. He knew who the man was.

‘Er, pleased to meet you too, sir.’ Gilbert glanced around the rest of the room and realised that he was in a hospital, which annoyed him a bit. He had hoped that Amator would have the good sense to simply get him a doctor. He _did_ have a criminal record.

‘I’m afraid this isn’t the ideal place to meet the father figure to your partner for the first time,’ said High Priest Bellamy. ‘But this is as the gods have given us.’

‘It is pretty embarrassing, me being in bed and all,’ Gilbert agreed. He wondered if it would be rude to ask, and hoped that it wouldn’t. ‘Why are you here?’

‘When Amator called and told me about your little adventure, I was worried and decided to check on him in person. He said he was well in body, but I feared the incident would have made him anxious. He was always a fretful child.’

‘Really? He seems pretty self-assured all of the time to me.’

‘Is that so?’ Bellamy said with a raised eyebrow. ‘Perhaps he has changed since he left my temple. He did appear very calm when I arrived.’

‘He’s a very strong person.’ Gilbert shut his eyes for a moment, and opened them again with urgency as something occurred to him. ‘You’re not … uh, taking him away, are you?’

‘I beg your pardon?’

‘I mean … I put his life in danger. I know how important Amator is to the followers of Nara-Kami. I - I understand if you think he shouldn’t hang around me anymore.’

‘Oh.’ Bellamy chuckled. ‘If that had been my intention, then I would have changed my mind after hearing you say that. You care for him very deeply.’

Before Gilbert could reply, the door opened and Amator came in holding two coffee cups. He nearly dropped them when he saw that Gilbert was awake.

‘Gilbert!’ he gasped, hurrying to his side.

‘ _Please_ be careful.’ Gilbert would have cringed away if he could, but his sides were very stiff. ‘I don’t want to end up staying in here because you gave me third degree burns.’

Amator put the cups down on the bedside table, before he carefully put his arms around Gilbert’s neck. He buried his face in his shoulder, and Gilbert was alarmed to hear a soft sob.

‘Hey, I’m fine now,’ he said, disentangling his arms from the blanket to return the hug. ‘You should be done crying. How long have I been out?’

‘Too long,’ Amator said.

‘A day and a half,’ Bellamy supplied, seeing as Amator was probably not about to give a direct answer any time soon.

‘That’s hardly any time to worry about, considering the fact that I had three bullets inside me before I arrived. I’m impressed at myself, actually. But I wish I wasn’t in a hospital. How did you get the fact that I was shot past the doctors?’

‘I’m a famous priest,’ Amator sniffed. ‘No one has to ask me any questions if I don’t want them to.’

It was painful to laugh, but Gilbert did it anyway. ‘Wow, my job as your protector comes with a lot of perks.’

‘Yes.’ Amator drew back, smiling in a very wobbly way. Gilbert reached up to brush away his tears.

‘Amator, no offence, but you’re a wimp,’ he said, and Amator laughed. ‘Where are all those jokes you make about dancing with death on a daily basis?’

‘It’s too different when it’s about _your_ death.’

‘Now you know how I feel.’ Gilbert squeezed his shoulder and let his hands fall. ‘But we can relax now. The Conlegium won’t come after us again.’

‘Thank all the gods,’ Amator said feelingly.

‘Thank all the gods seconded,’ Bellamy said. ‘I didn’t want to have any doubts about letting Amator take you on his travels because he trusted you so much, but now I can feel quite sure. Although I must say, I’m a little disappointed.’

‘In?’ Amator asked.

‘The two of you. I thought you two would be a little more lovey-dovey than this. How can I forget the day Gilbert left the temple and you, Amator, were pouring his heart out to me with heartbroken sobs?’

‘Oh, shut up.’ Amator scowled. ‘I don’t remember anything about “heartbroken sobs”, and I would not have said anything to you at all if Father Daley had not called you himself.’

‘That is true, but if it weren’t for me, you wouldn’t be here now, would you?’

‘I never got to thank you for that,’ Gilbert said happily. ‘Do you personally matchmake all of your acolytes?’

‘When I find the time. It is a pet hobby of mine,’ Bellamy answered, smiling at them.

‘If this example is anything to go by, you excel at it, sir.’

‘Why, thank you. I have always hoped that was the case. Amator was a tricky one because he has so many needs and he is so gifted, you know, but you appear well-matched to him.’

‘Please just stop,’ Amator groaned.

Bellamy laughed. Gilbert felt that he could see why Amator trusted him so much. 

‘I see I am intruding on an important lovers’ meeting -‘ Amator soundly objected ‘- so I’ll step out. There are some people who want to meet me now, so I’ll come in to see you in the evening, Amator. I know I can’t make you leave Gilbert’s side, but I’d like to check how you two are doing later. I hope you recover soon, Gilbert.’

‘Thank you. I hope you have a good day, sir.’

Bellamy nodded, picked up his coffee, and left.

‘I think I should definitely start taking pictures of you and send them to him,’ Gilbert said.

‘Don’t. I won’t talk to you for three days per picture,’ Amator said. Then he kissed Gilbert’s mouth, gently. ‘I’m so happy you’re alright.’

‘You’ve said.’ Gilbert ran a hand through Amator’s hair. ‘And I’m happy _you’re_ alright. It was all for you, Amator. If you’d so much as got a scratch, I would never forgive myself.’

‘You have a loving soul.’

‘You say, after I’ve just killed two people.’

‘In self-defence.’ Amator sat on the bed and cuddled up to Gilbert as best as he could, staking out his territory. Gilbert hugged him again.

‘We’ll make up for that trip sometime,’ he said. ‘You never caught a single fish.’

‘What!?’ Amator was surprised. ‘I thought you would never want to go out to sea again after all that.’

‘Oh, well, we’re not in any more danger than normal people are anymore,’ Gilbert said. ‘And you enjoyed the trip. I’d like to complete your happiness.’

‘I’m quite complete already, right here with you. But … thank you.’

‘Perhaps we could find our own boat though. I’m not sure if anyone would want to captain for us again after what I let happen to Meredith.’ He still felt a stab of guilt, thinking about the captain. It had really not been fair at all.

‘You didn’t “let” anything happen to him,’ Amator said sternly. ‘And you might be surprised at the people who might volunteer to help us.’

Oh, right. Amator’s flock would think of it as quite the honour to die for him. It was a little morbid, Gilbert had always thought, but it was … reassuring, too.

‘Okay,’ he said. ‘Don’t worry anymore. Once I’m better, we’ll go out to sea and finish our date. May Nara-Kami always watch over us.’

Gilbert didn’t have to look at Amator’s face to see the grin that was surely appearing on it. ‘Yes,’ he said. ‘I am always praying for that.’

**Author's Note:**

> Written for [this](http://s879.photobucket.com/user/spook_me/media/Spook%20Me%202016/UNTITLED-4-90x90cm-oil-on-canvas-2007-copy_zpsw2slmtmz.jpg.html) picture prompt.


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